OPM News 
Top News
- IRS to pay $70M in bonuses, Grassley says
- Small companies won't feel effect of lowered contractor pay cap
- Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
- As VA works to eliminate one backlog, one more might emerge
- BRAC-like commission proposed to hunt down government cost savings
- Sequestration claims another conference: DHS's GFirst cyber event
- Postal Service closing Capitol Hill post offices in 'symbolic' move
- Senators seek cost cuts for F-35 fighter jet
- Fed pens new furlough song
- Web guru Dorris brings new life to government websites
- EPA CIO Jackson returning to private sector
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- NSA leak case gives vendors reason to reevaluate personnel
- 8 contract executives guilty of 8(a) contracting fraud
- Whistleblower suit leads to $12M false claims settlement by SAIC
Changes will 'burnish prestige' of Fellows program, OPM director says
OPM Director John Berry detailed changes coming to the Presidential Management Fellows Program in a recent letter to Congress, obtained by Federal News Radio. The program came under criticism earlier this year for mistakenly sending out 300 letters of acceptance to applicants who had not been chosen for the program.
OPM releases draft guide for competency-based job hiring
The Office of Personnel Management has released a draft version of a guide to using competency-based qualification standards, along with a new round of competency-based job requirements for certain clerical and administrative positions.
OPM convenes workgroup to address domestic violence in federal workplace
The Office of Personnel Management will convene an interagency workgroup in the coming weeks to establish governmentwide policies on domestic violence in the federal workplace. Rob Shriver, deputy general council for policy at OPM, has an update on the personnel agency's progress.
Panel: Hiring reform critical as brain drain looms
The Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp discussed the big issues in recruitment, hiring and retention with a panel of federal hiring experts.
Performance improvement has 'turned the corner' in government
Shelley Metzenbaum said agencies are doing a better job in setting outcome-based goals and using data to measure their progress. OPM is finalizing guidance and training to use the competence models for performance improvement positions. Treasury and DHS are setting their own path to using data to meet their mission goals.
Postal bill amendment seeks to cut backlog ahead of USPS retirement 'deluge'
An amendment to a Senate bill aiming to restructure the U.S. Postal Service's financial framework would institute new agency reporting requirements for retiring federal workers in anticipation of a "deluge of retirees" from USPS. Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), introduced an amendment last week that requires the Office of Personnel Management to take new steps to chip away at the longstanding backlog of federal retirement claims.
Has the long-anticipated retirement tsunami finally started?
Recent data from the Office of Personnel Management suggests that the long-predicted retirement tsunami of federal employees may have started. As more and more baby boomers opt to retire, a vacuum of knowledge and experience is being left behind at many agencies. Some federal managers are now scrambling to figure out ways to ride out the wave.
Saving big bucks, the GSA scandal, and more
Allan Roth of CBS MoneyWatch and Federal Times reporters Andy Medici and Steve Losey join host Mike Causey on today's program.
April 11, 2012
OPM retirement backlog falls 14 percent as agency surpasses monthly goals
The Office of Personnel Management has consistently made progress processing retirement claims since the start of the calendar year, even as federal employees continue to retire in higher-than-projected numbers. In each of the first three months of the year, OPM surpassed its processing goal, according to OPM data released last week.
OPM making changes to FEHBP - Is that good news?
In a recent letter to insurers, the Office of Personnel Management requested some changes to federal health plans. Brace yourselves: It's mostly good news. The Federal Drive talked to health-benefits expert Walt Francis to get the details.
OSC initiative zeroes in on worst vet discriminator - the government
The Office of Personnel Management recently reminded federal agencies that the White House has "zero tolerance" for discriminating against veterans in hiring and promotions. But the federal government is still one of the biggest offenders. Patrick Boulay from the Office of Special Counsel told the Federal Drive about a new pilot program aimed at streamlining the complaint process for veterans in the federal government.
OPM: 10 new plans coming to FEHBP in 2013
The Office of Personnel Management will add 10 new health plans to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan starting in 2013.
Agencies distrust OPM prices for conducting background checks
The costs reported by the Office of Personnel Management to conduct background investigations and security-clearance checks for federal agencies have skyrocketed in the past six years, according to a Feb. 28 Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday. But agency customers are growing dissatisfied with the lack of transparency surrounding price increases and are starting to looking elsewhere, GAO auditors said in the report.
Berry: OPM did not authorize CFC meals, entertainment expenses
Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry issued a directive today claiming his agency never approved thousands of dollars in questionable meals and entertainment expenses incurred by the Combined Federal Campaign. Earlier this month, OPM's Inspector General's Office reported that CFC had charged for box seats at a Washington Nationals event, chair massages and other expenses.
Living on 1/3 of your income
Thinking about retiring in the next couple of years? Well, here's something to think about, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says: How long and how well could you live if your income was cut by more than 60 percent for months at a time?
Mentoring event serves up career advice in a flash
Feds looking for career guidance and motivation are increasingly going outside of their agencies to find it. Employees from 20 agencies attended a recent "flash mentoring" session hosted by the Office of Personnel Management's HR University. More seasoned human resources professionals served as mentors.
HR University showing worth, expanding after first year
The government's training portal has nearly 10,000 users. The HR University now offers college-accredited classes and in-person "flash mentoring" events. The Office of Personnel Management and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council launched the portal last year as a way to save agencies money on professional development training.
Flexible-retention adds new option to agencies' retirement toolkit
Senate amendment allows retiring federal employees to return to work on a part-time basis. Ron Sanders, senior executive adviser at Booz Allen Hamilton, says this provision allows retirees to pass along their institutional knowledge while continuing their civil service.
Many non-SES managers feeling left out of key discussions
GS-12s to GS-15s want more say in labor-management conversations. Patricia Niehaus, the president of the Federal Managers Association, said too often political appointees and SESers are the only managers at the table. OPM's John Berry said he will work with FMA and others to figure out how to be more inclusive.
OPM cites 'great strides' in hiring reform, mixed progress in retirement processing
OPM met just more than half of its two dozen performance measures for 2011, according to an annual performance report released in February. However, among the agency's "high-priority" goals, such as telework and hiring reform, the report cites "great strides." While goals on retirement processing showed mixed progress, OPM's director of planning and policy analysis Jonathan Foley said the agency is "on track" to reduce the processing time to 60 days by July 2013.
